blackdevil

Same here until the DoF signed Nikola Pejovic on loan in Jan transfer window. Just a thought, what are you setting your manager's reputation to? It might be worth setting it as "Former International" so the players take more notice of you from the beginning with regard to press conferences and team talks.

I never had any media questions about it, But I used the 25 first team squad + Sasa Ilic (10 games) who left during the winter break and one U19 player for one game (Nikola Lakcevic). With press conferences and team talks I keep an eye out to see if the players are showing complacency and try to cut that out with the responses. And also stress to take one game at a time & can't go into it thinking it's already won...but at the same time "we've trained well and confident of securing a result" if it's for a league game. First Team Squad: Honestly it's luck with this save, I nearly didn't make it to the CL group stage at all. Against Honved it required an 88th min goal to secure the away goals win. Was 3-1 down vs Celtic in the first leg away and got an 86th min goal and then held on in the 2nd leg as I went 2-0 up and then made it interesting with an own goal on the 66th. In the EL first knockout round in needed an 90+5th min winner in the 2nd leg to go through as we'd have been out on away goals. The group stage annoyed me somewhat as we saw the other side of late goals, we lost to Ajax in the 90th min of the first meeting with them and City needed an 86th min winner the 3-2 defeat. The Dortmund games were strange as they just didn't seem to turn up, at that stage I thought I could have made it out of the group but alas a step too far. European results if interested:

Just as an update - I finished the season in Serbia and it's not that bad at all compared to some other leagues. There was only one week where I had four games in a week (Wed > Sat > Mon > Wed) and that culminated with the Serbian Cup semi-final 2nd leg. I had thankfully won the league with first Wednesday game of that spell (3 league games remaining) so it could have been a nuisance if the title was still up in the air but I was able to win those as well anyway. The biggest help with fixtures was probably getting eliminated from the Europa League in the 2nd Knockout round as I'd imagine it'd be a lot tougher if I'd stayed in the competition. If you're doing better than I did in the CL/EL then I expect it'd a very tough final league phase. As I was mostly focused on morale and fitness as they appeared from my perspective to be your biggest issue in maintaining form through to the end of the season it's worked out quite well. I left the training to the assistant (probably not the best idea in this case) and DoF to most of the other DoF type tasks, only left myself with the veto power over player sales. Taking over these aspect could allow you to do better. Tactically I did change from an attacking mentality to standard when I was leading in the 2nd half of games in the final phase of the league to reduce the intensity of our game to help reduce condition loss although I'm not sure how much that helped. And on squad rotation - I did swap nearly the whole team (including keeper) in rotation where possible which we could do as they're supposed to be one of the top two teams in the league. Obviously due to injuries & suspension that couldn't be done every time. I kept an eye on the fixture list to ensure that my first choice line up would be available for the big games where possible. I forgot to use youngsters from the reserves/U19's aside from one occasion when I played a winger from the U19's. I should have used them when I had that 4 games in one week spell, alas my concentration attribute seems to be on the decline.

I was looking for a save to do and having seen this have started a Partizan save. Tactics wise I think the squad is suited to a 4-2-3-1 wide system and doesn't need anything fancy, particularly in the league where we're one of the better sides. So far we've played 25 games in all competitions with 21 wins and 4 losses. All 4 defeats have been in the Champions League with 4 away defeats and 1 home defeat to Man City. As you can see in the screenshots below I'm not using anything fancy although the 2nd one just moves everything a little deeper for those tough CL away trips...If I remember to select it although it did get us a win against DVB. Tactics used so far: (no player instructions used) I think the biggest issue you're experiencing is likely due to the physical and mental wellness of the players. Regular rotation of the players (not necessarily the whole team at once) including who gets substituted taking care of the physical side of things (don't forget you can use youngsters from reserves/U19 squads as well). For the mental side I rely on the pre/post-match press conferences to be confident in my teams ability (Training has gone well and confident of getting a result) but at the same time say the "opposition have a chance and it's not going to be easy". Keeping morale high and the players focused to avoid complacency is the key to getting consistency over the course of the season. For team talks I sometimes let my assistant do them but when I do them it's always done in calm tone. Unless they've been poor in the first half (or after the game) be aggressive and it usually gets them back on track. Looking at my squad as we approach November you can see most of them have good morale and match sharpness. The only ones not match sharp or in good morale are the injured players or the couple that haven't played much: (only signing done by DoF is Djordje Kamber) Results to show consistency:

Thought that was the case, just ran a couple of test matches with the only instruction being width setting and defensively looked the same for balanced/narrow/wide.....when the players had gotten into shape anyway. Most easily noticed when the opposition keeper/defender had the ball. *wasn't a scientific study so take my observations with a grain of salt.

I thought the "width" setting only applied to when your team has the ball and they'll automatically come narrower to defend. Can't remember where I came across that though but it does seem to be case when I've watched games. Usually if I'm playing with a wide setting I'm also playing with more creative freedom so the players intelligence may be covering the cracks so to speak.

I've played Herrera out wide more often than in the middle as he's got the best crossing attribute of the squad. I've played Young as a F9 before too. Only thing different I'd do is replace Valencia with Jones for his better crossing skills....and possibly swap Pogba with Mata.

At the clubs I was at for more than a year then yes, they sold the better players for decent (not obscene) money and they also got rid of those that weren't needed. The players they acquired usually cost a lot less than what we sold. I don't recall them splashing the cash to ruin the finances but then at those times I was at Wuhan (China), Ajax CT (S. Africa) and then Lyon (France) so not the biggest of clubs although Lyon is a decent sized club. Honestly the worse signing in my whole career was one I made for over £100m at Arsenal as the player was always out on the town before a game.

I've done this on my Ultimate Football Manager Challenge as I couldn't be bothered with scouting for players all the time for what is hopefully just a short spell in charge of a club so it can work. It's generally worked out well, it's frustrating when they sell your best player but equally rewarding when they sign someone decent in a position you're weak in. Obviously the better the DoF the better the signings he makes and you could always set yourself to confirm the transfers so you get the last veto so to speak.

Thanks @Dalbeider, good luck in China.

Congrats @pug 407 on success in Korea and AFC Champions League.

Argentina World Cup 2038 When it came to announcing the squad for the World Cup I was filled with renewed optimism thanks to talking the two legendary forwards out of retirement. However that optimism was tempered with the pre-tournament friendlies against Senegal which we won 1-0 thanks to a 91st min winner from Magnani and then a 2-2 draw with Bosnia & Herzegovina where we came from 1-0 down to be leading 2-1 and then throw it away by conceding a 92nd min goal. On a positive though Magnani got another two goals. In the group stage we were drawn with El Salvador, Nigeria and Belgium. We started off with a comfortable 4-1 win with Magnani getting two goals and De Hoyos also getting on the score sheet. Next up was Nigeria where we were kicked off the park by an overly aggresive side reminicent of Cameroon's game against Argentina in the '90 World Cup with four of our players picking up minor injuries. We thankfully saw them off 1-0 with a late goal from a corner and a delightful volley from the edge of the box by our defensive midfielder. With Belgium and ourselves already qualified I rotated the squad against them and squeezed out a 1-0 win in a fairly drab game thanks to a first international goal for a young left winger who'd only made his debut in the friendly against Senegal. The second round saw us face Japan and after 32 mins we were 2-0 down until first half injury time when we pulled one back through an own goal. After loosing my rag at them with the half time team talk it took only 5 mins of the 2nd half before we were level thanks to Argentina's all time leading goal scorer De Hoyos and after the hour mark Magnani smashed in two goals to see the game out with a 4-2 win. Italy awaited in the quarter-final, a tight cagy afair in the first half came to life in the second and the deadlock was broken on 52nd min with a goal from our young left winger. Italy equalised in the 56th min thanks to a lad I introduced to the international team during my spell with Italy. We secured the win in 73rd min with a goal from our substitue forward. The semi-final saw us take on France...how we didn't win the game is beyond me, we hit the woodwork at least 4 or 5 times. At least twice it was cleared off the line by a defender and their goalkeeper made numerous saves. It was one of those games where you throw everything inluding the kitchen sink at them and it just doesn't go in and you're left waiting for the inevitable sucker puch counter attack. Thankfully that sucker punch didn't come and the game went to penalties, Magnani and De Hoyos missed our first two penalties as France scored their first 3. We went on to score our next three as France missed theirs for us to go through 4-3 shootout winners. After missing the first two penalties I was resigned to defeat so when France's final penalty was blazed over the bar ala Chris Waddle I may have annoyed my neighbours by shouting a little loud for the early hours. This is it, the one we've all been waiting for, they beat us in 1990, they beat us in 2014, for the thousands in attendance, the millions watching around the world it's time to conquor the Germans! Eight mins after my nebulous inspiration team talk (not counting the pre-match rubbish) we were 1-0 down and the German's were looking comfortable like a Rolls Royce. They were stronger, quicker and better in the air. We weren't getting anywhere near them for the first 20 mins then we started getting a foothold in the game and equalised on the 25th min through our star forward Magnani. The game then turned into a back and forth encounter with chances for both teams with Germany having the better of them until the 64th min when De Hoyos smashed in a low cross from the left not even close to one of our players and the defender knocked it into his own net. The German's responded putting us under pressure however we were threatening to hit them on the counter and we sealed the win with a first international goal for a young midfielder who ran from within his own half to support Magnani who fed him into space just outside the box and he finished with a solid drive across goal into the top corner to secure Argentina's 3rd World Cup title. Whilst Magnani was our leading star in terms of goals, assists and average rating my choice for star was the young midfielder as he reminded me of Gazza's 1990 World Cup heroics and the goal just rounded it off nicely. Relief is the word that best decribes the feeling of finally getting across the finish line. At times it's been a bit of a slog to get through seasons, sometimes due to the team I'm managing and others due to life interfering. But on the whole it's been an enjoyable journey and I think I'll carry on this save until the new version comes out. Challenge Progress: Seasons: Screenshots:

Thanks @pug 407 things are looking up since my last update as the below news article points out so wonderfully And those two players for reference are:

@numero uno gunner Ah right, no worries that clears it up. Must have missed that discussion but it's a reasonable compromise. Can imagine it's a bit gutting to not be able to ticket off the Libertadores though. Minor update: Argentina Confederations Cup 2037 I resigned from Newell's, who incidentally went on to win the league again in my absence, to focus on the one remaining objective for this challenge and that's the World Cup. We've qualified without any problems with four games to spare and the Confederations Cup in a World Cup warm up. It was a tough group with China, Mexico and the number one team in the world, Germany. We started off with a 5-2 win over China and 1-1 draws with Mexico and Germany to qualify with Mexico. In the semi-final we faced world number two Netherlands and comfortably won 3-1 to setup a final against Mexico which we won 3-2 thanks to a late goal. Following the tournament and just a year before the World cup my two star forwards have announced their retirement from international football and that throws a serious spanner in the works as they're far superior to anyone else available even though they're in their 30's. Challenge Progress: Seasons:

Newell's Old Boys Superliga 203/203 The Argentine Cup carried over into the new season as it still follows the calendar year and not the league year. In the 7th round we had an easy 3-1 victory against Atlético Tucumán followed by a thumping 3-0 win over league rivals River in the quarter-finals. The semi-final saw us overcome Godoy Cruz 2-0 to setup a final against Vélez Sarsfield. Heading into this I was tense and nervous with it being the last domestic trophy I needed and it didn't help that I was 1-0 down after two mins. With my head still in my hands I missed the equaliser on the 24th min, we took the lead in the 64th min from a corner but threw it away late on when Vélez equalised in the 82nd min. This is one of the few matches I've ever made subs just to cover penalties and it payed off with one of them scoring. However the hero of the shootout was our goalkeeper who made 4 saves to allow us to win 2-0 on penalties and allow me to breathe a very long sigh of relief. The league was a secondary concern whilst I was concentrating on the cup and I was tempted to quit after I'd won it. It took some time but I decided to carry on and it was an enjoyable three way fight for the title with Boca, River and ourselves. We didn't take top spot until the turn of the year and we thankfully held onto it despite stuttering and staggering over the finish line to win the leage by two points from both Boca and River. It was equally frustrating and enjoyable to be in a close run title chase and I wouldn't have been bothered if we'd won it or not. Internationally we're in the middle of the world cup qualifying and looking good with 5 wins and 1 draw so far leaving us top of the qualification table by a point from Chile. Unfortunately the World Cup isn't until 2038 so a couple of years to wait for that. I'm not sure what to do now with regards to club management, I'm not convinced I can maintain the domestic sucess with Newell's given the finances and reputation of Boca & River so may resign. That would allow time to pass a lot quicker to the World Cup but I do prefer to manage club sides to international sides and I'm thinking of carrying this save on after the challenge is complete...until the new version is released anyway. Challenge Progress: Seasons: